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What Happens in an Ayahuasca Ceremony

An Ayahuasca retreat ceremony is an extremely spiritual experience that can give you a new lease on life. It won’t only improve your physical health, but also your spiritual and emotional. You will be able to see the world in a whole different way.

The entire experience does not only span over the ceremony itself but before and after as well. Before, you need to undergo some preparation in order to ready yourself to connect to the spirit of the Ayahuasca plant. Then, you will be able to get through the ceremony itself. It’s hard to say when the aftereffects of the ceremony will end. It is such a life-altering experience that it may very well last forever.

The wisdom that you will receive during the ceremony will be undeniable, and you will want to make changes in your life that will be for the better. It will probably be one of the most transformational experiences that you have ever and will ever experience. Ayahuasca heals you from the inside out.

How do you prepare for such a life-changing experience? Let’s take a look.

BEFORE THE CEREMONY

Ayahuasca has the capability of completely turning your life around. Such a significant event cannot be taken lightly. You must prepare adequately in order to experience its enormous capabilities. When you prepare well, the cleansing will not be as painful and as energy-draining. Your mind will also be prepared for the wisdom you are about to receive.

Before the ceremony begins, you must open up your mind and accept that everything is so much bigger than you are. You are but a thread in the universe’s tapestry. You will have to prepare your physical body as well as your emotional and spiritual well-being. Only then will you be ready to participate in the ceremony to receive the energy and the teachings.

Diet

For at least one week before the ceremony, you must take special care of your diet. Your body will be greatly weakened during the process, so it is during the preparation phase that you will strengthen and ready it. Give up all toxic, pre-packed foods. Anything that is not organic has to go. Avoid red meats, spices, and some of the heavier fruits and vegetables as it could be rough on your stomach. Give up smoking, alcohol, and drugs during this period as well.

Abstinence

You will also have to abstain from sexual activity as you prepare for the Ayahuasca ceremony. Energy is lost during sexual activity, and rather than have all your energy flowing in one place, you want it to be flowing throughout your entire body.

Ayahuasca holds that abstinence helps you clear your mind and heart and allows your spirit to connect on higher levels. You will need to approach preparation with this sort of mindset.

Meditation

The wisdom and teachings that you receive during the ceremony will also come with the unpacking of your past. Noises, intrusive thoughts, suppressed memories will be brought back for you to address. For this reason, it is important for you to meditate during the preparation.

Try not to have expectations about the Ayahuasca journey. It is different for everyone, so having expectations is useless and will only cause you to lose your focus and resolve. Instead, focus on yourself and what you are looking to heal from during the journey.

Emotional Balance

Finally, find your emotional balance. Everyone has a past. If yours has trauma, sadness, or unresolved issues, accept it and let it go. Be sure to love and encourage yourself for getting through it, then set your sights on what lays ahead. Build up emotional strength – you will need it.

DURING THE CEREMONY

Every Ayahuasca ceremony has at least eight participants. Though every individual’s journey is different, it is one that you experience with a group. The wisdom and insights that you gain during the experience will be shared, and you will build a lifelong bond with the people who go through it with you. Embrace the journey, embrace those alongside, and embrace yourself.

Every participant will have a bed, a bottle of water, and a bucket for purging. Typically, the ceremony is carried out in a circle. It is meant to be intimate, as each and every person in that circle will have a bond by the close of the ceremony.

The ceremony itself will be very intricate. You will smell the incense and perfume, hear the pulsating music, and feel enveloped in the atmosphere. It will begin with a shaman cleansing the entire room. He will then bless the Ayahuasca and allow each of the participants to take it in.

The liquid itself is a thick, brown mixture. It doesn’t taste terrible, neither does it taste good. You will have to keep it in for at least fifteen minutes or it will have no effect.

After everyone has drunk their fill, the shaman drinks his. The candles are then blown out and he returns to his bed. Everyone then waits in silence for the plant to take its effect.

In anywhere from half an hour to an hour and a half, it will come. It won’t be sudden – you’ll feel it. Your body will be experiencing hot flashes and then extreme cold. You will feel dizzy and confused. Thoughts and feelings will be taking over your mind and you may be unsure of whether you are asleep or awake.

You probably won’t have much perception of time during this period. It may seem like a minute, it may seem like hours or days. At this time, your mind and body will be confused and distressed.

Then comes the purging. Your mind will begin to clear at this stage – your body is cleansing itself and removing everything unclean.

It will be evident that the plant is psychedelic as you start seeing bright colors and patterns dance across the room. You will feel significantly stronger like you’ve just taken a dose of caffeine. The shaman will open his mouth and start singing. Then come the visions.

Occasionally, the haunting tones will be interrupted with incense or perfume. Every time the scene changes, your experience will too. You will see new colors, feel new feelings, be consumed by new thoughts. Every new song and scent is a new flavor of the experience.

In time, the colors and patterns will cease, only to be replaced with a calm assurance and absolute lucidity. This is when you will have transcended to a higher level where you will receive the teachings.

It is from this higher level that you will get a new look at your life. You will see the entire universe in a different way. Everything is different, but everything is one. You will never be able to explain this understanding, but it will make perfect sense to you.

It isn’t possible to really explain the experience simply because it is so profound and so different for everyone. All that can be said is that it is incredibly clarifying. You will see how everything is connected and the part that you have in the universe. It will seem like the entire universe is, at that moment, flowing through your veins.

After the period of clarity, the effects will start to fade. You will be exhausted, but you will be at peace.

If you are interested in one of our Ayahuasca retreats and would like more information or are looking to apply, please do get in touch with us! We would be happy to have you along.